The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Photinia plant, botanically known as Photoinia.times.fraseri, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Colwillow.
The new Photinia is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in San Antonio, Tex. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new compact Photinia cultivars with dark and attractively colored foliage.
The new Photinia originated from a self-pollination of an unidentified selection of Photinia.times.fraseri. The cultivar Colwillow was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single plant within a population of 10,000 progeny in a controlled environment in San Antonio, Tex., in 1994. The selection of this plant was based on its compact plant habit, small narrow leaves, and attractive foliage colors.
Plants of the new Photinia differ from plants of the parent, the unidentified selection of Photinia.times.fraseri, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Photinia are more compact and more outwardly spreading than plants of the parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Photinia have smaller and much narrower leaves than plants of the parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Photinia and the parent selection differ in leaf coloration.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at San Antonio, Tex., has shown that the unique features of this new Photinia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.